“A federal judge has ruled that state and local governments cannot publicize federal government data about where prescription opioids were distributed—a blow to news organizations seeking to report more deeply on the nation’s overdose and addiction crisis.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is providing the information to state and local governments to use in their lawsuits against companies that make, distribute and sell the drugs. Sharing the data even with them came with a long list of conditions, including that it could be used only for law enforcement and litigation.
Cleveland-based Judge Dan Polster, who is overseeing more than 800 of the lawsuits in federal court, ruled Thursday that the data cannot be made public, saying that doing so would reveal trade secrets and “eviscerate” the terms under which the information was shared.”
Read more at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-07-opioid-consumption.html
Source: MedicalXpress.com – July 27, 2018
